Insecure Away From Home
by Zip Goes A Million
Summary: June Rock the AU! Sybil and Tom are attending Tom's sister's wedding, and Sybil begins to feel down. Of course, Tom takes the role of caring boyfriend and comforts her when she needs it most.


**Insecure Away From Home**

Sybil and Tom had spent the day at Tom's sister's wedding on the outskirts of Dublin. Sybil and Tom had been going out for less than a year, and although Sybil had met Eve and Jonathan, along with the rest of the Branson family, a few times when she had visited Ireland with Tom, she didn't know Tom's family well and knew almost none of his friends who lived in Ireland. Tom had made sure to spend the whole wedding close to Sybil's side, wary that Sybil may feel a little out of place and would quite possibly feel intimidated. Tom knew the loud and boisterous side of Sybil when they were together and knew her as the woman who would dance around in her underwear and sing out of tune at the top of her voice when she thought no one was watching, but he knew that when she was among a large crowd of people, most of whom she didn't know, she could easily be coy and could appear to be very introverted. Tom didn't want Sybil to feel vulnerable, knowing that most of the guests attending the wedding, when together with alcohol, an electric atmosphere and, in some cases, the chance for a long-awaited catch-up, could quickly get too loud and often obnoxious. Tom knew that Sybil was meeting most of them for the first time and that she was likely to feel rather daunted and shy. Tom stayed next to Sybil, cautious to not allow her to feel left out and alone throughout the day.

Now, the two of them were standing together in the dimmed room, having eaten already, with Tom's arm behind Sybil's back, waiting for the first dance to begin. There was the low hum of mostly Irish-twinged expectant chatter from the people around them, and Sybil leant into Tom, not needing to say anything to him to let him know how much she loved him. Tom tightened his hold on Sybil's waist and kissed through her hair. Sybil nuzzled into his shoulder and he stood slightly behind her and snaked his arms around her front. She rested her arms on top of his and leant back into him, wishing that she could be lying next to him in bed, drifting into sleep in his arms. The music started quietly, but quickly increased in volume, as 'Fly Me to the Moon' started to be sung by the live band in the corner of the room. Tom's sister and her new husband emerged from the edge of the room, Eve dressed in an ivory laced dress and Jonathan in a black suit with a red and white carnation attached to his lapel, matching those of his best men, and Tom promptly extracted his arms from under Sybil's in order to join in the loud applause. Sybil loved the song. During her years at university, she had struggled to stay positive. One of the only things that had helped her to cope was music, and 'Fly Me to the Moon' still had a particularly special place in her heart. Sybil scooted back slightly to stand next to Tom, and slid her hand into his gently. He acknowledged her by squeezing her hand gently, but didn't turn his head, keeping his eyes locked on the mutual focus of the entire room. Together they stood and watched the new couple dance for the first time as husband and wife. Sybil liked the quiet. She liked that the only noise around them consisted of a few mumblings throughout the crowd and the live music from the corner. She took comfort from the fact that one dance between two people could bring an entire group of unruly and overexcited people to almost complete silence to take in the sight. Two people, one dance. Uniting an entire room. Sybil liked that.

Once the dance was finished and Eve and Jonathan had been applauded again, the music changed to be more upbeat to encourage everyone else to get involved and join the newlyweds on the dance floor. The chatter started up again and the bubbly atmosphere swiftly returned to the room. Tom turned to Sybil and bent down to ensure that she could hear him, saying, "Do you want to dance right now or not? You seem a bit off at the moment." Sybil shook her head slightly and looked down at the floor between her and Tom, scared that if she looked at him, the tears forming in her eyes would fall down her cheeks. "Do you want to step out for a minute?" he asked her, to which he got a faint nod in reply. He walked next to Sybil with one hand pressed on her lower back and guided her out of the room and into the much quieter and cooler hallway. There were a couple of people in the hallway – even Tom didn't know some of them – who were going out to smoke or who were trying to navigate the building to find the toilets. In the quiet he could sense that Sybil wasn't completely with it. Her internal drawbridge had shot up quicker than he'd ever seen it, and he knew that she wasn't in the right mood for anyone to go anywhere near her emotions. She'd always been so open with Tom, so this was strange for Tom to see. She folded her arms across her chest and leant back against the wall. He placed a soft hand on her upper arm and said, "What's wrong, love?"

"Nothing," Sybil said with a slight shake of her head as she stared down. "I'm just really tired and stressed, that's all."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tom asked tenderly, standing close to Sybil.

"Just be the perfect man you always are," she replied with a weak smile. Tom unwound Sybil's arms from each other and took her hands in his, holding them low between their bodies.

"What's happened?" he asked softly. "You were cheerful this morning."

"That's because it was just you and me in bed with tea and a lie in," she replied, a loving, small smile forming on her lips as she remembered the morning. Tom waited longer for an answer. He rubbed his thumb over the smooth skin of her hand and carefully and very slowly began to pull the drawbridge back down to be parallel to the floor. "I don't know, I guess just coming over from England without really knowing anyone other than you and not really knowing what I'm doing or why I'm here isn't exactly the most comforting feeling in the world," Sybil admitted quietly, fighting back tears. She didn't want to ruin Tom's night by forcing him to concentrate on making her feel better. Tom drew her into an all-consuming hug and allowed her to rest her head on his chest and wrap her arms around him.

"Syb," he started quietly, speaking low to her. "You're here because I love you, and I want you to be with me and stand by me when the important things in my life take place. You know that my relationship with Eve is the best relationship I have with any family member. This wedding is almost more important to me than my own one will be. I know you don't know many people here and I know that you're away from your family and friends and away from the life you know so well, and I know it's stressful. But tomorrow will be better, I promise. Tomorrow, it'll be just the two of us and we can do whatever we want," he said warmly, triggering Sybil to finally let her salty tears drop from her eyes. "We can stay in the hotel all day and order room service and not get out of bed, or we can go and explore a bit of Dublin and I'll take you to where I hold some of my favourite childhood memories. It doesn't matter what we do tomorrow because it will be just the two of us. You and me. Together." Sybil smiled against him and began to feel better. She pulled back from his embrace and found Tom's eyes before rising up to kiss him.

"I love you, Tom," she whispered to him. "Thank you for being you." Tom smiled as he continued to hold her and placed another kiss on her forehead.

"Why are you thanking me? _You're_ the one _I_ should be thanking."

"Why?" Sybil asked, looking into Tom's bright blue eyes. He wiped the moisture from Sybil's cheeks with a gentle thumb.

"Because you've made my life so much better and I don't know what I'd do without you," he said sincerely.

"You're making me emotional, Tom, stop it!" Sybil giggled, trying to stop the tears from surfacing again. Tom leant his head down to Sybil's ear and whispered in his rough Irish drawl,

"And why would I want to do that, milady?" Sybil swatted Tom's chest lightly in mock indignation.

"If you're not careful, you're going to get yourself into trouble, Tom!" Sybil said, obviously now happier in herself.

"Would that be so bad?" Tom asked seductively, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Sybil exclaimed. Just then, someone walked past them on their way outside and Sybil fell about giggling to herself for no apparent reason. Tom joined her in her laughter and when the two of them had recovered, he said,

"Should we go back inside?"

"I suppose we probably should," Sybil said through a widening smile. Tom shifted on his feet, preparing to make his way back, but Sybil reached her hand up and cupped his cheek before he could go anywhere. "Thank you," she said before lifting herself onto her tiptoes to join her lips with his.

"You've got nothing to thank me for," he said, but then gave her another kiss.

"I've got everything to thank you for." Sybil replied. She took his hand in hers and together they returned to the room filled with dancing and chatting.

Just as they entered, the music changed from an upbeat '5, 6, 7, 8' by Steps to a slower song – Dolly Parton's version of 'I Will Always Love You'. Tom looked at Sybil and tilted his head towards the dance floor where the lights were low and couples were beginning to emerge from the crowd in each other's arms, prepared to sway to and fro along with the music. Sybil smiled at his wordless suggestion in agreement. He led her to the edge of the group of dancers and took her waist in two tender hands. Sybil reached her arms up to rest on his shirt-covered shoulders. She was glad that he had discarded his jacket at the table. Not only did it allow him to move more freely, but it also, in Sybil's opinion, showed off his upper arm muscles in a particularly good way. Sybil bent her arms to stroke the back of Tom's neck lightly with her fingers. Tom bent to kiss her and Sybil arched her body into the feel of Tom's hands on her waist. When they had parted, they both shifted their weight gently from one foot to the other in time with the slow-paced music in the background. "Are you feeling better, love?" Tom asked quietly.

"Yeah," Sybil said, looking straight into his blue eyes. "Thank you," she said, before pulling him down into another kiss.

"I love you, Sybil," Tom said and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too," she said, a smile on her face and she leant into his body, moving with the music.

* * *

_Hopefully you liked this interpretation of the June Rock the AU theme of Weddings. I didn't want to do one where Sybil and Tom were the two getting married, as I knew that if I did that, it would end just as long as my May Rock the AU which I just spent far too long writing. Please, please review if you can._


End file.
